A Loss for the Passion
Revelation 2:1-7

The church at Ephesus was a dynamic church. It flourished in a community that contained false religions, cults, and superstitions. It existed in a city that made its riches off the manufacture and sale of images of the goddess, Diana. Acts 19:23-27 indicates how the merchants devoted to Diana brought much income into the city. Black Magic was widely practiced there. In fact, Paul had a run-in with an occultist in Acts 19:13-19. Nevertheless, despite all of this, the church at Ephesus flourished because it was extremely well-taught. Some of its teachers were Paul, Apollos, Timothy, and John. 

And it is the Apostle John who begins this letter with a description of Christ. He is described in verse 1 as One Who “holdeth the seven stars in His right hand.” The seven stars were the seven messengers or pastors of the seven churches. This reminds us that each pastor was not only protected by the Lord, but also held accountable by the Lord for faithfully conveying God’s message of salvation and the coming judgment. In verse 1, the Lord is visualized as walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which is representative of the seven churches. In verse 2, He reminds them that He is aware of the circumstances under which they must minister. He was aware of their distaste for sin. They did not fold or buckle under stress, and they refused to compromise. They remained faithful. They examined and kicked out false preachers who came to them.  They called sin, “Sin.” In verse 6, there is a mention of the Nicolaitans, who were false teachers that claimed the actions of the body didn’t affect your spirit. They said that it was okay to sin. They were the group that said, “If it feels good, do it.”

Despite the popularity of such false doctrines, the church at Ephesus stood firmly against sin. They were a tough church that did not veer to the left or the right. What a great church! If you’re going to pastor a church, this seemed like the church to pastor. Everything looked good until the Lord said, “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Revelation 2:4) Under the keen observation of the Lord, it appeared that their good works were no more than a façade. They looked good on the outside like so many Christians today. They even sounded good, but they had heart trouble. You see, a church has heart trouble anytime it becomes a social club or when it is unable to keep the main thing, loving Christ, the main thing. You probably thought that I was going to say serving Christ is the main thing. It is out of our love for Him that we serve Him.

The Ephesian church’s problem was that they had stopped loving Christ like they had done before. They no-doubt had deacons serving on the deacon board, ushers ushering on the usher board, and choir members singing in the choir, but something was missing. They were like the husband and wife who had been married for over 20 years and still came home after work. They still sat at the same table. They even shared the same bathrooms. But when they went to bed, he went to his room and she went to hers. They lived under the same roof, but there was very little interaction between the two. This is the way the relationship of the Ephesian church had become with the Lord. The service that they performed was out of duty and not out of a passion for the things of the Lord. They had, in fact, lost their passion for the Lord.

Passion is a powerful emotion such as love and joy. It will cause one to endure the pain and hardships of life. The Lord understands passion because it was His passion that led Him to the cross. Somehow in the religious rituals that they had done week after week, the church at Ephesus had forgotten their passion for the Lord. Too many times we come to church because we’ve been brought up in the church. The only thing that we know to do on Sunday is go to church. We are encouraged in Hebrews 10:25 to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together; but despite the fact that we sit at church Sunday after Sunday and we may be members of the Busy Bee Club or the Willing Workers Club—without a passion for the Lord, our labor is in vain. Then our service is not out of love but out of a sense of duty.

This often happens in our marriages. When you first discovered each other, you couldn’t get that other person out of your mind. You didn’t have much, but you had each other. Now that prosperity has knocked on your door, you make more money and buy bigger toys for the family. But the job has robbed you of the time you used to spend with each other. It keeps you on the road more and keeps you at the office longer. Now you find no excitement in getting home, and there is no excitement for her when you come home.

Even in ministry, we have often gotten too busy doing the work at the expense of our relationships with the Lord. There is a heart problem when we spend more time ministering and less time with Him.

Dr. David Jeremiah said once the diagnosis is made, the prescription can be written.  And so the Lord prescribes three medications to bring about the healing:

1. First there was the medication to remember. They were to remember those times when they were on fire with passion for the Lord. They didn’t need a building; they didn’t need a piano, a keyboard, or an organ. They would make music by clapping their hands and patting their feet. In our churches today, we have all of those things, but no passion for the Lord. We have large choirs, but no passion for the Lord. We have large congregations, but no passion for the Lord.
2. Next was the medication of repentance. They needed to turn from the direction that they were going so that, like David, they could ask the Lord to create within them a clean heart and a pure mind so that He could renew within them the right spirit. (Psalms 51:10)
3. Finally, there was the medication called repetition. They were to “do the things [they] did at first.” (NIV) If you’re having problems in your marriage, sometimes all it takes is to repeat the things you did to get your husband or wife. To keep the passion, it takes the same things that it took to first spark your love.
   

Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, caught the practical implications of passion.

To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others ... to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom—I'll do it. “I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.” The reality is that we think that having a passion for the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table—“Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.”

 

But the reality for most of us is that He sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listening to the neighbor’s kid's troubles instead of saying, “Get lost!” Go to a committee meeting. Give up a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Helping with the Sunday School – 25 cents; helping with the little tots – 25 cents! It all adds up and it all should be done out of our love for Him!
 
Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; but it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul, unless the service that we perform is a result of our PASSION for Him!

When we serve with passion, we serve even if they remove our position as President of the XYZ Club. It means we serve if nobody applauds our service. It means we serve if no recognition is given. It means we serve if we are criticized for our service. It means we serve, not with an attitude, but out of gratitude!

* Unless specified, Scripture taken from KJV